While most regional groups come to consensus months, if not years, before the vote in the General Assembly, it's not always the case. At times, the vote is the end of a lengthy slog to win over the support of 128 of the U.N.'s 193 member-states.

Among the three countries vying for two spots from the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG), the competition was more fierce.

The swag offered up in 2011, from countries like Pakistan, Morocco, and Hungary

Though always popular, sweets may not be the key to winning a tough race.

In 2012, the Australian delegation gave out "chocolate-coated hazelnut pralines shaped as kangaroos and koalas", a tin of mints, and a book Australia's achievements on the global stage. Their swag, along with Luxembourg's wooden ships, were enough to beat out Finland's dried blueberries.

But not always, as during the their failed bid in 2010, Canada reportedly gave out jugs of maple syrup to win votes. They lost handily to Portugal. And Turkey's Turkish Delight wasn't enough to seal their place on the Council.

Back in the 1990s, the competition for seats was even tougher.

"Competing for a seat against the Netherlands and Canada, two rather more restrained nations, Greece invited United Nations delegates to fly there to look over some Olympic sites, hear about a plan for declaring an international truce to mark the 2004 Olympic games, which will take place in Greece, then relax on an Aegean cruise," the New York Times reported in 1998.